The HTC One M8i could be a slightly cheaper alternative to the HTC One M9

Last year’s HTC One M8 went down incredibly well with the masses, and while we’ve all been eagerly anticipating the follow-up none of us really expected that HTC might have something else up its sleeve. One leak suggests that the HTC One M8i is coming later this year as well.

According to @upleaks, the HTC One M8i will be a more advanced version of last year’s One M8 while still being cheaper than the flagship One M9. Externally, however, it sounds like it’s going to be almost indistinguishable than the original One M8.

The One M8i will supposedly come with a 5-inch 1080p display, an octa-core 1.7GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a 13 MP or 2MP DuoCamera on the back, a 5MP front-facing camera, NFC, Bluetooth 4.1, microSD expansion, Boomsound speakers, and a 3,000 mAh battery. All that will run on Android Lollipop with HTC Sense 7 on top.

That means it’s better than the original thanks a boost to the processor, a better rear camera, more battery capacity, and the latest versions of Android and HTC Sense.

Apparently the One M8i will be heading to Europe and Asia later this year, but we don’t have any information on when that might be or how much it might cost. If the leak is accurate you can probably expect that we’ll hear more at MWC.